MYSTIFIED AND SCEPTICAL ABOUT MYSTICAL EXPERIENCES OF REALITY?

The wonderment and disbelief of the uninvited

“Those of us who dwell on the outside of your perplexing alter ego and who were casually introduced to it, as was I, are, rather, somewhat mystified and, I might add, skeptical.

“We do not doubt your revelations or refute the existence of this world, although, judging from our previous discussions, that noun may not apply: it is an essence, I gather, rather than a place. And we outsiders who are mere listeners about this phenomenon can only — as some say in the vernacular — give our head a shake.

“Perhaps this can be a launching pad for your weekly missive: the wonderment and disbelief of the curious but uninvited.”

Dr Tart’s’ and other scientists’ work convinced him “there is a real and vitally important sense in which we are spiritual beings, but the too dominant, scientistic, materialist philosophy of our times, masquerading as genuine science, dogmatically denies any possible reality to the spiritual. This hurts people, it pressures them to reject vital aspects of their being.”

The long list of eminent authors and scientists who write to support Dr Tart’s work is a testimony to science’s growing acceptance and resolve to discover what experiences of phenomena like MER mean in general and to the human condition in particular.

These testimonials and the full text of Dr Tart’s relaxed, very readable introduction to his book can be found on his website.

Charles T. Tart is internationally known for his more than 50 years of research on the nature of consciousness, altered states of consciousness (ASCs) and parapsychology, and is one of the founders of the field of Transpersonal (spiritual) Psychology. His and other scientists’ work convinced him that there is a real and vitally important sense in which we are spiritual beings, but the too dominant, scientistic, materialist philosophy of our times, masquerading as genuine science, dogmatically denies any possible reality to the spiritual. This hurts people, it pressures them to reject vital aspects of their being.